I'm In This
by aims2009
Summary: Hank and Sarah - One shot based on S4 Ep 14. Spoilers(ish) Roughly follows the first scene with the two of them in Hank's studio.


**A/N -** To anyone who is following my other story "It Wasn't Nothing" I promise I haven't forgotten about it. I've just sort of hit a wall with the chapter I'm currently working on. However, when I saw the most recent episode, "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" I had to come write something. I'm just so in love with Hank and Sarah and I'm SO bummed there's only one more episode left this season! And the previews for next week have me worried!

Anyway, like always, let me know what you think. I don't own anything!

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It had been a particularly long day for Hank. He had a few pickups that day and he had completely forgotten to finish editing a batch of photos until Sarah had reminded him. He loved seeing her walk through the front doors every morning. He wasn't an overly romantic guy but he really like Sarah. That morning had been a little more stressful then normal but he felt a sense of calm wash over him when Sarah walked in that morning, coffee in hand. He knew there was still a lot of work to do but just having her there made me him feel better. Things had been going well for him the past few weeks. Even though his daughter had moved across country he had found Sarah and in her found someone very special, soul mate perhaps? No, Hank didn't dare say that out loud because Hank was the kind of guy who was just waiting for things to fall apart. He didn't really believe in destiny or love at first sight. He thought he had when he met his first wife, but it seemed like just liked to kick him when he was already down. Now he was cynical and realistic and just waited for life to kick him.

He had just started to have a better relationship with his daughter when he learned his ex-wife was going to be moving and it absolutely broke his heart. He had fallen for Sarah, who could blame him? She was smart, funny and a very caring person. But he didn't dare come close to saying the "L" word because he knew as soon as he even entertained the thought something would happen, so he wouldn't allow him to say the word 'love' because he wasn't going to risk losing her. He liked where things were at, he liked getting up early and bringing home warm croissants and chatting in the morning and he didn't want to jeopardize that.

He was sitting as his desk working on some edits when Sarah stood in front of his desk. He could feel her watching her and he didn't really want to break his concentration so kept his eyes on his computer screen and said, "yes?" Sarah paused for a minute and looked down at her feet. Hank could sense something was on her mind. He hit save on his photo and looked up to see a fidgety Sarah standing before him. Trying to keep the mood light, Hank joked, "Did you drink too much coffee? Do you need to pee?" Sarah, slightly annoyed replied, "No, but I need to tell you something and I need you not to freak out." Hank leaned forward a bit, knowing that he was probably, in fact, going to freak out. A hundred thoughts ran through his head. Was it a photo shoot they did that he forgot to work on, was it something with her family but then his thoughts went to Mark and before she even said anything he knew it had to do with him. Hank wasn't normally the jealous guy. He was pretty stand offish and didn't like conflict, but something about Mark just really bugged him. And he had a feeling he wouldn't like where this conversation was going.

"I ran into Mark today and" Sarah was cut off by Hank asking, "You ran into Mark? Where did you run into Mark?"

"I ran into him at Drew's school why does that even matter?" Sarah could tell Hank was getting a little worked up and she was started to get defensive.

"I just think it's a little weird, that's all. He came by the shop the other day and now you run into him again." Hank had a habit of talking with his hands and he felt his hand jumping up in the air in a questioning sort of way.

"Drew forgot a term paper and I was just taking it to the office and bumped into him in the hallway." She paused for a second waiting for Hank to say something, but Hank just stared at her. So she continued, "I think we are going to meet for coffee." Sarah found herself having a hard time looking at Hank when she was saying this. When she searched for his eyes she found him staring off.

And there it was, Hank knew things were too good to be true, he wasn't lucky when it came to women and he felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. Hank just sat there with a pained expression on his face.

Sarah could tell Hank was having a hard time processing what she had just said. She did her best to put herself in his shoes. She knew this couldn't be easy for him. Hank wasn't the must secure guy and this had to be killing him. "Hank, look, it's just for closure. I never really got that and I feel like it's important to move forward." Sarah did her best to explain.

"Do you want to get back together with him?" Hank blatantly asked.

Sarah seemed hurt that he would even ask that question. She leaned forward and put her hand on his, "Hank, I'm with you now. Please know that, I'm in this. I feel I owe it to Mark to go talk with him about how things ended. That's it."

Hank looked in her eyes and tried his best not to seem too upset. He needed to trust her, he had to trust her, but he was so afraid of getting hurt in the process of it all. He had really fallen for Sarah and he couldn't bear to think about losing her.

He stood up and started to talk, "Ok, it's just, I, I care about you Sarah. And I,…just know that." And with that he walked away. Sarah sat there in silence for a bit. She really cared for Hank and she liked being with him. He brought out a side in her that Mark never did. Yet she found herself hoping to run into Mark. She was hoping the coffee date would give her the closure she needed.

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I chose to leave it a little open ended, because I haven no idea what's going to happen. And I will probably have a similar chapter in my other story. But I just had to get this out there! Hope everyone has a nice weekend! Or, whenever you read this!


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